I've flown also and had all the big kites.
My first big one was in 2002 the Gutless F-One Mach1 18.1m
and the worst upwind machine was the 23m switchblade.
Seems like LEI caught up with foil types as far as weight,
but I'm still questioning the relaunch, upwind and wind range attributes,
which are very important for me
If the new 21m Zeeko has all the benefit of the 21m Speed3, than congratulations

DrLW

Need I remind you, a 21m LEI is not comparable to a 21m foil. The 21m Speed 3 is a flatter kite due to the bridling and is comparable to a 26m LEI.

Zeeko wrote:About the speed valve, the kite haven't it.
1- the weight
2- all the valves I tested, I had trouble with.
Then the inflation is a regular one, but you have a deflation valve on tip to help you when you store the kite.

About color choice, I need to check the warehouse, and the shops butin our warehouse we should have no Blue Brown and no green white (available but need to be confirmed dark blue, dark pink and dark orange).

For availability, you have kitesurferstore.com in US or go directly to the ZEEKO website to find a dealer.

ride easy,
nicolas

Hello Nicholas
Please give me your opinion since you designed that kite and are an expert at ULW riding
There is no doubt that you created a tube with the lightest weight per total flat area
Very efficient ULW tube machine...possibly the best in the world at this time

You ride in ULW a "foilboard "powered in lulls of 5kn....so let's say average 6kn (5-6-7kn max)

As an expert do you think you could ride in same low wind on an 11ft stand up paddleboard (SUP)?

On an SUP could "your 21m2 "kite ride in lulls of 2kn...so let's say average 3kn (2-3-4kn max) ?

In your expert opinion could a smaller tube kite (16-17m2) pull at kiter in 2-4kn max on an SUP ?

fernmanus wrote:Need I remind you, a 21m LEI is not comparable to a 21m foil. The 21m Speed 3 is a flatter kite due to the bridling and is comparable to a 26m LEI.

This is a popular misconception. Flatter kites DO NOT have more power than similarly sized C-shaped kites.This misconception incorrectly assumes that power is proportional to projected area... it is NOT; obviously wind doesn't "hit" a kite at right-angles (or anywhere close to right angles; it's actually close to parallel). The misconception also assumes that the tips (ie non projected area) of a kite do not contribute to LIFT (ie forward drive); they contribute as much drive per unit area as the centre of the kite.

To a certain extent, we all know this from experience with flat bridled inflatables. These kites flew differently (eg slower turning, less height in jumps but more glide, similar hang time, etc). Many had to be designed with deep luff curves to stop them flying to the edge of the window and inverting, which gave them a lot of bottom end, but compromised top end. But they did NOT have more power per unit area than similar sized C-kites.

It isn't a surprise that a ram lover holds still holds onto this misconception. I honestly think ram lovers have a warped view of reality - they must have, to keep using such inferior kites.

Pumpy....................................

Last edited by Pump me up on Tue Feb 05, 2013 4:55 am, edited 1 time in total.

So tell me does the 21m Zeeko have the same low-end as the FS Speed 3 21M?

The low-end of the 21m Zeeko... who knows? There is a diminishing law of returns for large kites in light winds... but size DOES matter. If the 21m Zeeko is well engineered (and all reports suggest that's the case), it will have the best low-end of ALL inflatables. Who knows how it compares to the 21m Speed? However, I think it is safe to assume, on first principles, that the 21m Zeeko will be superior to the 21m Speed on all criteria. Let me know if you want me to list these "first principle criteria"

I had the 19.5m2 Contra for a while...even ordered the 23.5m2..
...pumped it..looked at it...send it right back the next day...weighed a ton...MONSTROUS LE

I gotta say though had some great fun on it, like the over powered feeling, and if you made one mistake that kite let you know about it. I had to use a rechargeable battery pump to pump the leading edge. Id attach that first and let it do its thing, manually pump the 7 struts, go change into my wetsuit and come back and the leading edge would then be ready for a few manual pumps to finish it off.
By which time it was dark and ready to go home.
It exploded after 6 years of use. Nothing more annoying than spending 4 hours pumping a kite on a 9 knot day dying for a session, you get ready to launch and it explodes. Straight to the pub for a beer to cool down after that.
Still say big C kites rock as far as Im concerned.